505. Walk On The Wild Side by Lou Reed 1972

This was my introduction to the world of Lou Reed back in 1972. I'd read about him from interviews in Melody Maker and the New Musical Express with David Bowie. But no one I knew had Velvet Underground records and neither did the local record shop. I'd have to wait a few years for those and a world of second hand shops and Monash Records with their large heavy cardboard sleeve cut outs.
But it started here with this song suddenly being played on the local radio station 3AK. And it was so different and other worldly. Almost like jazz. And what was he singing about? He was taking us to somewhere else. Somewhere a little more dangerous and not really anything to do with the bright sunshine of the Melbourne suburbs.
So we played this music at night or with the shades down often adding a stick of incense to the mix. My friend lent me a kind of spinning light like you would find on the top of a police car. I'd have that going and fairy lights from our Christmas tree hung on the wall. And I'd always prop the album cover up against the record player. As if to announce what was playing.
Transformer was massive. The first real party I went to. One where you had to cross town. To Carlton all the way from Nunawading. Where there were lots of people you didn't know. And the girls looked exotic. This album was playing as I walked in. The whole album. Another world.

504. Only You Can do It by Francoise Hardy 1966

Okay, she had a lot better songs. Songs that I like better. And she was cool and had her picture taken with Brian Jones and Bob Dylan. And she was French. And every now and then I go into a French mood and start pulling out my France Gall and Bridgette Bardort/Serge Gainsbourg records and the delightful Francoise. But before all that and before I bought records because their sleeves were cool I was in love with this song when I was still in primary school over in Nunawading South. Was it a big hit in Australia? I haven't got a clue. It was a big hit for me. I had a thing for girl singers and their pop tunes early in love. I had a massive crush on Sandie Shaw,Marianne Faithful and even liked Cilla Black.
Mind you I didn't get to own the record until about 13 years later when I found the Francoise Hardy in English album in a bargain bin at a record shop in 1979. Although I played the song off the LP itself it probably took me until years later  to start appreciating just how good some of her other songs were. I was playing one a few years back and my daughter Melody started singing along. Seems they started learning it in French class at her High School. Now that's cool.

503. The Cutter by Ech and the Bunnymen 1983

Two major bands came out of Liverpool in the early eighties. Teardrop Explodes and Echo and the Bunnymen. I was firmly in the Teardrop Explodes camp. The Bunnymen were a little too pretentious for me. But looking back it was the age of pretension and they were all as bad as each other. Nevertheless, my opinions about them changed dramatically with this slice of heavenly pop. From the Eastern strings that open the record to the psychedelic and almost Beatlish tone that runs throughout it just never stops. Banging along like a train.
This made a popular single to put on at just about every nightclub I played at. And through massive speakers like the ones we had in the first few years of the Lizard Lounge, it was totally massive. I think it was an old band PA stack that had been left behind. It had been a country rock venue before we took over. I saw a few bands there. Put The Cutter through those and you were transported. Forget the sticky carpet and the dingy atmosphere The Cutter put you somewhere else. I never had a clue what the song was about though.

502. Rebel Rebel by David Bowie 1974

In 1974 I was completely besotted by David Bowie. I had all the records going back to the rubbish he made at Decca (except I never had The laughing Gnome and I still don't) Posters on the walls and two scrapbooks full of cuttings which I still have tucked away in some cupboard. Rebel Rebel was another classic single and definitely sounds a lot better on it's 7 inch version rather than the Diamond Dogs version. For a while it was mine and Lynne Wilson's song when I went out with her that year. She was going through a rebellious stage ending with her cutting her hair dead short at the end of the year. We broke up at the playground round the corner from where our drummer Duncan lives in Nunawading. I don't think her Dad ever liked me. I also used to buy her Gary Glitter eps but they don't bring back any memories thank god.
7 years later Little Murders are playing a regular gig at the Continental Hotel in Sorrento involving 3 half hour sets with a newish line up once a month. So while I write most of the stuff we play we found a need to add a few different covers. Up until then I'd only ever covered sixties and soul hits but I thought it was time to gently push us into the seventies. So we added Rebel Rebel . Great riff and the very drunken surfers really went mad for it. The floor would end up 3 cm deep in spilt beer. There's only really one verse to sing then a lot of ad libbing at the end. What a great gig that was. The drive home in the middle of the night trying to get to the Jump Club before it closed was often a bit hairy though.

501. Going Down To Liverpool by The Bangles 1984

The Bangles had a few great pop singles and I must admit to having a bit of a crush on Susannah Hoffs. It was the eyes that got me. And the guitars and the power pop sounds on some of their best songs. I found this song on their first major label album "All Over The Place".
This one was written by Kimberley Rew who wrote the omnipresent "Walking on Sunshine" while he was with Katrina And The Waves. Which was also quite a good song until it was played to death forever.
The Bangles were one of those bands we played at Barbarellas during our poppy guitar sets. The first time we heard them was the single Manic Monday which was written by Prince. Which was a big deal at the time. He was going through his Paisley phase. Manic Monday was great too. But they lost us with Walk Like An Egyptian and Eternal Flame.
Still I enjoy listening to Going Down to Liverpool. It's one of those songs where you feel like putting together a mix tape just so you can have it playing in the car when it's needed. When the suns out and you need some shiny guitars to guide your way.